A self-styled paedophile hunter has said he will continue to work to trap sex predators, despite being told by police not to.

Danny Catcher says he has eight arrests and one conviction under his belt in the two months he has been operating, and a Bristol man was arrested in Bath on Sunday, August 6, in one of Danny’s stings.

Now Danny says he has been contacted by a Detective Inspector from Avon and Somerset Constabulary telling him to stop operating as a paedophile hunter.

Danny said: “When I asked if I was breaking the law, he avoided my question - presumably because what I do isn't illegal.

“I will continue working within the law to bring child sex offenders to justice, regardless of whether or not the police support my work.”

The tweet from self-styled paedophile hunter Danny Catcher

Danny Catcher, who previously operated under the name Western Hunters, arranges to meet the suspects through a decoy profile, usually posing as a 13-year-old girl. He then confronts the suspects with the messages and contacts the police, before handing over all of the evidence he has gathered.

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A court case in Wales collapsed last week after a jury was given unreliable evidence by David Poole, a vigilante paedophile hunter from the group “H-Division”.

Danny said: “I do not condone the actions of David Poole from H-Division, especially not in this particular case. I have certain ways of collecting evidence, and Mr Poole’s unprofessional methods caused a case to fall apart.

“Further to this, I respect the law - everyone is entitled to a fair trail. Mr Poole streams his stings live on Facebook, which is incredibly unfair and puts a suspect and their usually innocent families at risk. Let’s not forget that it’s innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”

Danny responded: “Of course, I can never be sure whether I am affecting a police investigation by carrying out my stings, however, this is one key reason for police to have some kind of working relationship with law-abiding paedophile hunters.

“I don’t have training in evidence gathering, but I do have legal experts around me who are happy to advise me.”

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Danny says he is not a vigilante as he doesn’t serve his own justice – he is non-violent, performing citizen’s arrests and waiting for the police to arrive.

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Constabulary said: “The police service is committed to tackling child sexual exploitation and abuse in all its forms.

“We have invested in more undercover resources and other covert resources to catch those seeking to groom children online and we are already starting to see more of these offenders being brought to justice.

A 20-year-old man is arrested by police in Bath (Image: Paul Gillis)

“We understand the desire to protect children but any member of the public who has information about child sexual abuse, online or otherwise, should get in contact with the police so we can investigate and bring people to justice. So-called paedophile hunters are taking risks they don’t understand and can undermine police investigations.

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“Revealing the identity of suspected paedophiles gives the suspect the opportunity to destroy evidence before the police can investigate them. It can jeopardise ongoing police investigations and these people have no way of safeguarding child victims. It also leads to people who have been identified going missing or raising concerns for their safety. This can divert significant resources into protecting suspects, which would be better invested in investigating and, where there is evidence, prosecuting them.

“There is also the risk of wrongly accusing someone; if someone is wrongly accused of being a paedophile in a hugely public way that makes people who live with them, live near them, work with them assume they have committed the offence. The temptation to kill themselves may be just as great even if they are innocent; that is an appalling consequence to contemplate.

“If any member of the public has concerns about online grooming, they should report them to their local police, to CEOP at www.ceop.police.uk, or to Crimestoppers. If you think a child is at immediate risk of harm call 999”.